Endless snap clip



Oct. 16, 1962 I w. A. HOUSMAN 3,058,518

ENDLESS SNAP CLIP Filed June 27, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 22 E ,22 Fly, 4 /0 William A Housmah 1 N VEN TOR.

Oct- 16, 1 w. A. HOUSMAN ENDLESS SNAP CLIP 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 William A. Housman INVENTOR.

Filed June 2'7, 1958 Fig.4

3,058,518 ENDLESS SNAP CLIP William A. Housman, Pocatello, Idaho, assignor to Western Industries, Inc., a corporation of Idaho Filed June 27, 1958, Ser. No. 745,061 1 Claim. (Cl. 160-380) This invention comprises a novel and useful endless snap clip and more particularly relates to a resilient connector for detachably securing pliable sheets of material to each other or to a rigid member, and is particularly adapted for use in securing screens, transparent or waterproof pliable sheets and the like to window openings, hatches, or other openings.

The principal object of this invention is to provide a resilient connector or a snap clip whereby a pliable sheet of material may be quickly and securely connected to some other article.

A further and more specific object of the invention is to provide a resilient connector or snap clip particularly adapted for securing a sheet of pliable material across an Opening such as that of a hatch, a window or the like in such a manner that the sheet may be very easily fastened to or removed from its mounting, and whereby the attachment of the sheet to its mounting shall in no way unduly wear or damage the pliable sheet.

A further object of the invention is to provide in an endless snap clip assembly a further resilient or snap clip means for enclosing and protecting and further strengthening two angularly disposed and joining clip assemblies as for example the corners of a window framing and the like.

Another specific object of the invention is to provide a resilient connector or snap clip assembly whereby sheet metal or plastic sheets or other pliable sheet material may be connected together as to form a partition, a roof or the like.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accom panying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is an elevational view showing the manner in which the principles of this invention are applied to a window opening for securing a clear transparent pliable sheet of material across the window opening as for example to form a storm window therefor;

FIGURE 2 is an exploded perspective view, parts being broken away, of the various elements of the assembly whereby a corner joint may be formed;

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional detail view taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 3-3 of FIGURE 1 and showing the manner in which a sheet of pliable material is secured and mounted by this clip assembly to a mounting or supporting member;

IGURE 4 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view, parts being broken away, and taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 4-4 of FIGURE 1 and showing in particular the vertical and the upper and lower horizontal components of the clip assembly employed for an opening such as a window opening;

FIGURE 5 is a detail view in perspective, parts broken away and shown in section, of an alternative construction of a snap clip;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical transverse sectional detail view taken upon an enlarged scale substantially upon the plane indicated by the section line 66 of FIGURE 5; and

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary perspective view of a further modification whereby a pair of sheet metal or plastic "ice sheets have the resilient clip components of this invention integrally formed thereon for joining the sheets together as for example in forming a roof or the like.

In the accompanying drawings several alternative manners for applying the principles of the invention have been illustrated. Referring first to FIGURE 1 in conjunction with FIGURES 2-4, it will be seen that the snap clip fastening means of this invention has been applied to an opening in a surface such as a window opening 10 whereby a sheet of pliable material 12. such as a transparent pane, a covering constituting a storm window or a screen may be secured across this opening.

The snap clip assembly of this invention is applied to the window opening so as to enclose, surround or frame in the latter and thus securely anchor in position the pliable sheet across the opening. Conveniently, the assembly by which the opening is enclosed may comprise horizontal upper and lower portions 14 and 16 above and below the opening, together with side portions 18 and 20. The horizontal and vertical portions of the snap clip assembly join each other at right angles at the corners and corner connecting members 22 are applied to each of these joints or corners.

Obviously, where the opening is of other shape than a square or rectangle, the angular disposition of the adjacent portions'of the assembly will be other than perpendicular, and the corner components will thus be other than right angles.

For the description and understanding of the construction of the principles of the snap clip construction, attention is now directed specifically to FIGURES 2 and 3. Each snap clip connector consists of complementary cooperating male and female side components indicated at 24 and 26 respectively. These components are of the same construction regardless of whether they form the horizontal portions 14 and 16 of the assembly or the vertical components 18 and 20.

Considering first the male side component, it will be observed that the same comprises an elongated member or strip which may be of any suitable material and formed in any suitable manner, the same including a flat base 28 together with a longitudinally extending rib 30 which is integrally connected to the base as by a relatively narrow stem portion 32. The base extends from opposite sides of the stem portion to provide a pair of oppositely extend ing flanges 34 which are apertured as at 36 and countersunk for the reception of fasteners 38 whereby the male component may be secured to the supporting surface such as the window opening framing 10 as shown in FIG- URE 3.

As shown best in FIGURE 3, it will be observed that the rib 30 is generally circular in cross-section and is of considerably greater diameter than the thickness of the stem portion 32 by which is integrally connected to the base 28.

Although in the illustrations of the accompanying drawings the components 24 and 26 are shown as being straight elongated members, it is obvious that other shapes may be employed in accordance with the shape of the sheet to be mounted by the snap clip assembly.

The female side components 26 are elongated bodies of any suitable material which is channel-shaped, the same including the central portion which is C-shaped in crosssection as at 40 and from which extend oppositely directed fiat flanges 42, which are apertured as at 44. The crosssectional shape of the C-shaped portion 40 is complementary to the convex exterior surface and cross-sectional area of the rib 30 in order to receive the latter and to clamp and retain the portion of the sheet 40 therebetween as shown best in FIGURE 3. For this purpose, the C-shaped portion 40 is preferably inherently resilient in 7 3 nature whereby the same will resiliently grip the rib 30 and the sheet 12 disposed therebetween.

In some instances, it will be understood that the flanges 42 may be omitted and the frictional grip of the side walls 46 upon the enlarged headed portion of the rib 30 may be relied upon to clamp the sheet 12 therebetween. However, in other instances the fasteners 38 may extend through the aligned apertures 44 and 36 for clamping the mounting flanges 34 and 42 to the supporting surface such as that indicated at 10.

After the sheet 12 has been clamped to all of these portions 14, 16, 18 and 20 which make up the assembly, the reinforcing and bracing corner female components 22 may be applied thereto. Each of these components includes a pair of angularly disposed integrally connected sections designated generally by the numerals 5t) and 52,

each section including a channel-shaped member 54 which is C-shaped in cross-section and is possessed of sufficient resiliency to frictionally and resiliently clasp, engage and grip the adjacent ends of the adjacent female components 26 at a joint. If desired, the G-shaped body portion 54 may include oppositely disposed flanges 56 similar to the previously mentioned flanges 42 of the female components 26 and which if desired may be apertured for the same purpose.

It will thus be apparent that the corner components 22 frictionally clasp and brace the adjacent edges of adjacent sets of male and female components which form a joint of the assembly.

Referring to FIGURES 5 and 6 there is shown a modified construction of the female component. The male component is of identical construction as previously described and therefore is identified by the same reference characters. The female component, however, is designated generally by the numeral 60 and although of generally C-shaped configuration in cross section, consists of a pair of side walls 62, which are arcuated outwardly with respect to each other, and which terminate in opposed flat mounting flanges 64, apertured as at 66. At their adjacent end, the side walls 62 are provided with aligned sleeves 68 comprising hinge barrels and which receive the hinge pin 70 therethrough. In addition, the spring members 72 surround the hinge pin and engage against the exterior surfaces of the side walls to yieldingly urge the latter towards each other. This spring means may be of any desired construction and since the details of the same are immaterial for the purpose of this invention, a further description of the same is deemed to be unnecessary.

.The manner of applying the female components 60 of the form of FIGURES 5 and 6 are identical with that previously described and a further description is therefore believed to be unnecessary.

In FIGURE 7 there is shown a still further manner of applying the principles of this invention. In this figure there are shown two sheets of material at 80 and 82 which 4 may be of sheet metal, a suitable plastic or the like, and which at their opposite ends are formed with integral beads or ribs which are C-shaped in cross section. Thus, the sheet has the ribs 84 thereon while the sheet 82 has the ribs 86. These ribs are of the same shape and construction as the female components 26 previously described so that a rib 86 may be caused to embrace a rib 84 and have a resilient snap clip engagement therewith. Thus a plurality of the sheets may be joined together to form an extended surface such as a roof, partition or the like.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

In combination with a wall surface having an opening formed therein and a pliable sheet to be secured across said opening, a snap clip assembly for securing said sheet comprising a plurality of male side components removably secured to said surface and disposed in end-to-end relation to form corners and surrounding said opening, each male side component including a base having a longitudinally extending diametrically enlarged rib of C-shape in cross-section parallel to said base, a plurality of female side components one for each male side component and each comprising an elongated C-shaped clip on member resiliently interlockingly and laterally engaging over a rib of a male side component and clamping said pliable sheet therebetween, and elongated resilient angular bracing fe male corner components of C-shape in cross-section resiliently, interlockingly and laterally engaging adjacent end portions of said interlocked male and female side components.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 95,732 Roys Oct. 12, 1869 368,506 Berrien Aug. 16, 1887 451,550 Bayer May 5, 1891 639,568 Herald Dec. 19, 1899 642,236 Larimer Jan. 30, 1900 885,097 Steely Apr. 21, 1908 1,148,764 Faires Aug. 3, 1915 1,248,893 Nivois Dec. 4, 1917 1,796,581 Siebenlist Mar. 17, 1931 1,974,798 Dunning Sept. 25, 1934 2,372,915 Todd Apr. 3, 1945 2,606,608 Stewart Aug. 12, 1952 

